‘Fat Leonard’ gets bond in Navy bribery case

San Diego  A federal judge said Thursday that the Navy contractor known as “Fat Leonard,” who is at the center of a widening bribery scandal, can get out of jail if he posts a $1 million bond and agrees to significant restrictions on his movements — although he won’t be walking free any time soon.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jan M. Adler said Leonard Francis will not only have to wear a GPS-tracking device, but he will have to pay for an independent security company to monitor his movements via alarms and closed-circuit television, as well as pay for a 24-hour guard to be in the apartment he rents, likely in the downtown area.

Francis’ aunt, a naturalized U.S. citizen who lives in the Baltimore suburbs, has also agreed to co-sign a separate $100,000 bond.

“It’s the law that if I can fashion conditions of release that would assure his appearance, I must do so,” Adler said upon granting the restrictions, which were called some of the strictest the court has ever seen.

There was no indication of exactly how costly the extra security bill that Francis will have to foot will be, but prosecutors estimated Francis is worth “tens of millions of dollars.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office argued against the conditions, at one point calling it a “Bernie Madoff-type confinement” and asked for a stay so prosecutors can appeal the release with a federal district judge as soon as possible. Adler agreed to the stay.

Francis, 49, is charged with conspiracy to commit bribery in three separate cases involving Navy officials. The charges include bribes of prostitutes, $100,000 in cash and luxury travel in exchange for helping steer Navy business his way, federal prosecutors say.

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The Navy officials — Cmdrs. Jose Luis Sanchez and Michael Misiewicz and Special Agent John Beliveau II of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service — are all free on bond.

Francis, owner of Glenn Defense Marine Asia, is accused of using his connections with the Navy officials to get intelligence about ship routes and to get more dockings at his ports throughout Southeast Asia, according to court documents.

In essence, he had the officers “acting as secret agents in the interest of GDMA,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Huie.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Francis’ company also overbilled the Navy for its husbanding services, which includes everything from food and fuel to tugboats and security. A GDMA manager who is Francis’ cousin, Alex Wisidagama of Singapore, is also facing a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Huie said additional fraud charges are expected for Francis, increasing his potential prison time significantly.

Francis, a Malaysian national, was arrested at a San Diego hotel Sept. 16 after he was lured into the country on the premise of having an important business meeting with the Navy. He traveled legally on a visa that is good for 10 years but restricts visits to six months.

The issue of whether Francis should remain jailed was argued in a nearly two-hour hearing that went into the evening.